Now we get down to real life in Mazatlan.

One of the realities of life is cleaning the house. We had a couple of ladies help us with the initial mopping and scrubbing, and aside from the walls really needing paint it is clean enough.

The typical way people clean floors here is to sweep and mop, pretty much every day. I have to admit I just don’t like that system.

The main area of our house is open to the outside. The breeze whips through – and that is a good thing as it keeps us cool. We have ceiling fans in every room. So sweeping is pretty much a matter of turning off the fans and trying to keep the sweepings from taking off across the room before you get them in the dustpan. It can be pretty frustrating, and with the fans off – hot.

We have two dogs….Henry is a schnauzer/poodle mix and doesn’t shed much, but Lucy, the lab mix, sheds constantly. So there is dog fur drifting here and there as I try to sweep.

Anyone who knows me will now chuckle when I say I want a vacuum! And they are difficult to find around here. I did see one that I really considered but it was a little pull around thing that didn’t have beaters for the floor.

Today I really intend to find a vacuum. There is a commercial cleaning store with a yellow pages ad that I want to visit, and if necessary I will go back and get the pull around one I already located.

How do other people with dogs handle the housecleaning? Do you have help that comes in? I am reluctant to get a maid at least for now until we really see how much effort it is to keep clean ourselves.